Senator Sullivan has attached himself to this bill. As of this writing Senator Murkowski has not. I think Senator Sullivan is making a bad choice.

My feelings about Planned Parenthood are complicated because my feelings about abortion are complicated. I’m 100% in favor of everything they do except provide abortions. If they didn’t do abortions, they’d definitely be on my monthly donations list because I very much favor contraception and support for women’s health.

Until such time that we either have artificial wombs or can absolutely and easily guarantee a spot for every unwanted baby, I am not in favor of banning abortion. At the same time, I personally see abortion as an act of violence. It’s something that should be done rarely, if at all. But I also believe that women should not be forced to give birth. So, complicated. But while I’m willing to tolerate my tax dollars to pay for both abortions and drone strikes, I don’t give free will offerings to organizations that perform abortions.

So much for my complicated feels that may result in bipartisan rage. Senator Sullivan and his fellow, mostly male cosponsors are engaging in a rush to judgment. Defunding Planned Parenthood on the basis of some highly edited videos from a group with an ax to grind makes less sense then defunding the CIA over the Senate Torture Report. Making policy on the basis of internet videos is a bad idea.

If Senator Sullivan wants to do something constructive, he could ask the revelant Congressional committee to accept Planned Parenthood’s request to do unbiased hearings about the entire fetal tissue for research system. Then he and fellow senators could peruse the results and decide what actions to take.